Hallie and John Gorup own the building that used to house Kokoro and were casting around last spring for a new tenant, preferably a restaurant, to occupy that space.

Although there were several interested parties, Hallie Gorup said she and her husband decided to open a restaurant there themselves.

“It was a lot of kismet,” Gorup said.

As long-time lovers of food and fine cuisine the Gorups always thought they might open their own place, just perhaps not so soon.

But things started to fall into place when the pair discovered Sean Foley, a chef at a favorite restaurant near Chicago, would soon become available. They quickly decided to offer him a job and partnership in a new Lafayette restaurant venture, one that Foley would largely direct.

Chicken offered at a recent tasting dinner at Folie.(Photo: Provided by Hallie Gorup)

And things just sort of spiraled from there, Gorup said.

“Everybody has said we’re crazy to do this,” Gorup added. “So the name of the restaurant is a play on the chef’s name and also folly, which means a kind of madness.”

With the menu and opening date set and soft opening dinners sold out, the Gorup’s folly is quickly becoming a reality.

“We’re going to slowly introduce molecular gastronomy to our menu in the form of amuse-bouche. … We’ll do foams and different types of mousses, like a thermal whip,” Foley added.

In addition to some innovative dishes, he said, there will also be classics on the menu like house made pappardelle pasta with truffles.

“We’re also very driven with vegetables, adding herbs and flowers,” Foley said.

Foley is a classically trained French chef who studied under greats like Daniel Boulud and Gordon Ramsay. His training and his experience in different kitchens influences his work, which he described as a blend of different cuisines and culinary techniques. And the menu at Folie will reflect this.

The menu will change about every month and a half, Foley said. In terms of sourcing ingredients, he added, some things will be sourced locally, but others absolutely will not. As a chef you buy from the absolute best, he said.

“All of our chickens and ducks will be from Indiana, as will our red protein,” he said. “But there’s not a lot of fish in Tippecanoe. That will be sourced from the Fulton Fish Market in New York, where we’ll buy everything from sea urchins to East Coast Oysters.”

Gorup said she and her husband eventually hope to hand running and management of the restaurant off to Foley.

“The goal is to launch Sean and for us to function as very happy landlords,” she said.